Alice Shapiro

Its main strength is Spruce, the online messaging system and how responsive they are. The other strength is that they have a client relations coordinator you can talk to when there is a problem. Weaknesses - Callous disregard for how grueling this process is for a patient to go through - Complete administrative disorganization (charging me for tests I didn't consent to multiple times, double charging my credit card for an egg retrieval to the tune of $37,000) - Dr. Kaser, a doctor at the SF office who I had to see once for an ultrasound, tried to stick the ultrasound wand up my rectum instead of my vagina. I had to stop him when I realized one more shove and he was going to be fully in my rectum. When I first alerted him to being at and partially in my rectum, he partially adjusted but then went right back to it, and so I told him again. He then finally LOOKED where he was going and went straight for my vagina but didn't clean the wand first! Horrifying. - They did NOT tell us about the risks of IVF or give us any clear explanation about what it would be like on an emotional level. All they explained to us in the initial consult was the physiological process of embryonic development. They were generally awful at explaining anything really. If I'd known what to ask in the initial consult, I would have left the clinic never to return. But unfortunately, I was a completely unsuspecting victim and flew blind into what would turn out to be a nightmare of a year. I'll also include the recent letter I wrote to them, which received a generic and dismissive response from Dr. McQueen (the doctor I was switched to when Dr. Shapiro went on maternity leave). See below: Good morning. I woke up still so angry about how my negative test result was handled, and I already spoke to Ingrid, but I think it’s important that the whole team hear directly from me. I don’t blame you for the negative pregnancy test; that was obviously always a possibility. But making me wait til the absolute end of day for that result, ignoring my message to Spruce asking for an update around the time I was told I would be called, and the doctor (who I have never met, so I have zero connection to whatsoever) making the excuse that she waited until the clinic was nearly closed to call me because she was “in clinic” all day…all that is unacceptable. The result of this test is what every woman who steps foot into your clinic is waiting for; and my specific result is what every woman fears. THIS was the moment for you to show up for your patient. Not only a pregnancy test, but a NEGATIVE pregnancy test. This was a critically important moment to handle with care and tact. There is no reason you couldn’t prioritize making what amounted to a 60-second phone call. (The first 10 seconds of which were spent waiting for the doctor to seemingly pull up my chart, as if she had no idea what she was about to tell me, and then suddenly switch tone of voice to tell me it’s negative.) And if a doctor really isn’t available all day, why on EARTH can a nurse not read me a negative result? It’s not like Dr. McQueen told me anything at all. She offered ZERO words of encouragement. ZERO reasons she thinks it might have happened. ZERO “we are SO determined to help you get pregnant, sweetie! Let’s grieve this, and then kick ass next time!” THAT’s what a patient wants to hear on their first negative pregnancy result. A patient wants to hear that you’re on her team, that you deeply feel her pain but that you are ready to lift her up to keep going if that’s what she wants. I’d rather have the nurse tech Trish call me–at least she makes an effort to look like she’s happy to see me every time I come to the office. Please understand what it’s like to be a patient at an IVF clinic. You are dealing in an extremely sensitive space. The best person to deliver bad news is not a doctor who doesn’t have time for you or doesn’t wish to offer you words of encouragement or empathy. You need to prioritize giving people their pregnancy test results. You need to prioritize delivering bad news ESPECIALLY. I didn’t schedule any clients all day until 4pm, figuring that surely I’d have at least a couple hours to recover no matter the result. But instead I had 20 minutes. Like I said to the doctor, we’re getting a vasectomy reversal because the problems I’ve dealt with from this clinic have made this incredibly difficult process even more difficult. Speaking of which, next time a patient shows up in my situation, where a vasectomy reversal was an option, please tell them what it’s like to do IVF. Dr. Shapiro didn’t push back at ALL when we said we didn’t think vasectomy reversal was the best option. She should have said something like, “We will of course respect your decision, but let me tell you what IVF is really like. It is grueling. It is potentially multiple egg retrievals where you’ll be going under general anesthesia. It is weeks and weeks of injections–multiple per night–which you’ll have to administer yourself with minimal instruction. It is month after month of potentially bad news. It is no cake walk. My honest recommendation is to get the vasectomy reversal.” If Dr. Shapiro had told us that vasectomy reversal was going to be so much less of an ordeal than IVF would be, we might have been able to skip all of this heartbreak. I’m aware that this might be dismissed as one woman complaining, but I urge you not to do so. I KNOW that for every single patient, the universal truth is that this process is gut-wrenchingly hard and vulnerable. THAT is the fact that I hope guides your clinic’s decision-making in how you work with patients. I really hope you are able to hear all this feedback and change the way things are run for the sake of your other patients. Thank you for listening.

The clinic is conveniently located in SF downtown and close to the Bart/Muni station, so it was incredibly easy to attend regular check-ups without disrupting my daily routine or requesting any time off from work.

Strengths, the entire care team. Communication amongst nursing staff could be better. But everyone is very kind and compassionate. The blood draw nurses were awesome at creating a painless environment. The OR nurses were a well-oiled machine and just the kindest people. I was well taken care of.

RMA in Danville is a very clean and modern -looking office. The parking is very convenient and there is never too much of a wait to be seen. Everyone is super friendly. The building is fairly small, so it is easy to find the office.

The nurses and front desk always soo nice and welcoming. Didn’t feel like a clinic which was very nice. Even if you run late they never turned you away. They don’t just tell you what you want to hear and they really work with you

The clinic from my experience had no weaknesses. They were all great and professional! Made me feel like family every time I came in. Answered questions at any given time and always had medication for me whenever my medication didn’t arrive on time.

The clinic's only strength is that they use the Spruce app. They are otherwise difficult to reach, have long waits for tests, and keep all of your results private. If you want to see any of your test results you have to fill out a release form for each test and then they send them to you individually as a message. There are no patient portals or platforms where you can see all your appointments, agendas from each appointment, test results, or scheduled tests - so you will need to keep track of all of your appointments (past and future), tests / labs and dates, completely on your own. You also need to follow up proactively on the status of the tests as there is a bit of a lag in turn around time that would honestly be faster if you just requested the blood work on your own.

We were satisfied with our physical visits there. We are displeased with the laboratory results and the statistical improbability we suffered. Ending up with 0 embryos from 16 eggs was very frustrating; no clear diagnosis was given and we had consistently below expected success rates at every step. we didn't understand precisely why, their explanation being that it happens sometimes. Another issue we had was with the re-biopsy scheduling: we had 1 frozen embryo with no sufficient data from the PGT test, so had to re-biopsy it; it took the laboratory 2 weeks to get to it, thaw it, only to then _disintegrate_. Again, we don't have visibility in the laboratory as to why it took so long to re-test.

I am in the East Bay, which made their new Danville location very convenient. I do wish the clinic was open on the weekends (instead of having to drive into their SF location on the weekends for monitoring / transfers) but that was not a deal breaker for me. The clinic was very organized, clean, and has amazing staff all around

rma is an excellent fertility clinic and I highly recommend it. The care team is very professional and they make you feel feel that you are being treated as human (as opposed to a patient). They helped me and my partner during this long process of getting and staying pregnant and I'm forever grateful!

The clinic is clean, organized and well stocked with pads! I very much appreciated the latter! RMA only advises patients to do single embryo transfers, so if you want multiple embryos transferred at once this isn’t the place for you. All the doctors work great together and provide the best cross coverage. I never questioned who was doing my retrieval and transfer. I really felt like I was in the best care.

Strengths: Their online app, their patience and understanding and they friendly nursing staff at the Danville location. The doctors at every location are good. The nurses for the IVF egg retrieval were great. Weakness: Nursing staff and receptionist are less friendly at other locations.

I loved how RMA’s SF location is in the city. It was accessible and I could always walk to it in the morning. Friendly and helpful staff (nurses, receptionists, billing, etc). I paid for the procedures out of pocket, had some hiccups, and they made the whole process unexpectedly painless. I felt I was treated very well! When I went in, almost everyone was in a mask, so you can also feel at ease with anonymity if you care about that. The only minor thing not as pleasant was one of the building’s front desk lady in the lobby not always in a friendly mood and when I had to get there early to get buzzed in, she made me feel not welcome. But plenty of other wonderful front desk folks that I did enjoy seeing every visit!

The clinic has almost no weaknesses - I can't think of any issue or area of improvement. In terms of strengths, I believe that the use of the Spruce app, and clear instructions, cleanliness and ease of the office visits, all make this a great experience for any new patient.

The Spruce app that RMA uses for communication is incredible. So easy to get in touch and responses usually come in within an hour or less. During cycles you get results timely and either by phone call or Spruce. Even when my doctor isn't on-call, the other doctors are always just as helpful. Everyone is so warm and goes above and beyond.

Their billing team takes a long time to respond to emails and seem disorganized. They are however, prompt when they need to collect payment! Thankfully I did not have to work with them much as I was a self pay patient.

Efficient and well-organized clinic. The entire team made my visit seamless. Prompt service and a welcoming atmosphere. Clean and modern facility. The attention to detail in patient care is evident. Highly recommended! I wouldn’t change anything .

This clinic was amazing. I primarily went to the Silicon Valley location in Palo Alto and had my retrievals and transfer done in San Francisco. Both locations had great kind and professional staff, and timely, and clean rooms.